Sami Zayn Must Not Become the Next WWE NXT Champion

Sami Zayn is a dynamic force on WWE’s NXT programming. The athletic WWE Superstar makes the most of his matches with high-flying maneuvers mixed with incredible cutting-edge wrestling, never producing a bad encounter.

However, Zayn isn’t the NXT champion. Adrian Neville is.

Neville became the champion at NXT’s ArRIVAL event, defeating Bo Dallas in a ladder match. Neville has held the title dearly, facing all contenders and coming out victorious, but there’s one person he hasn’t faced yet on TV: Zayn.

Zayn and Neville are the two most popular faces on NXT. Both have storylines that draw NXT fans in. The WWE Universe cares about these two; it’s a wonder why Zayn and Neville haven’t been set up to battle each other. Meanwhile, Zayn is facing Tyson Kidd, whereas Neville is slated to fight Tyler Breeze.

Nothing is wrong with that, but it makes no sense to keep these two guys from wrestling each other. Then again, the past few champions before Neville reveal a cautionary tale: Not every NXT rookie achieves the same success in the WWE.

Sami Zayn must not become the next NXT champion.

The reality is that in an already loaded NXT roster, keeping the title away from Zayn benefits both him and the WWE. The company just signed Kenta and Prince Devitt to NXT deals, while Breeze and Kidd are featured more prominently than Zayn at the moment.

Even though it may be too soon, fans may want Zayn to be champion now, although he may be better suited as a call-up to the main roster. 

However, there’s a reason why he hasn’t been called to the big leagues. Just ask the recent additions since November 2012.

Seth Rollins is the only successful member of the NXT brand so far. He debuted as a member of The Shield and is the current Mr. Money in the Bank. Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns, Rollins’ former teammates, also achieved success.

The Wyatt Family is also a great success story. Bray Wyatt emerged as a strong character, while Luke Harper and Erick Rowan formed a pretty good tag team.

Let’s take a look at some of the other rookies.

Big E and Xavier Woods joined forces to form a wrestling group with Kofi Kingston. Before then, Woods floundered in a tag team role with R-Truth. Big E had an intercontinental title reign that arguably went nowhere.

Leo Kruger, now Adam Rose, is being used more to promote other products instead of actually wrestling.

The jury is still out on Bo Dallas, the former NXT champion. He still has time to grow as a heel, and Dallas’ journey as a top star is a slow burn. He had an undefeated streak going until he lost to R-Truth on July 28.

As you can see, it’s truly hit-or-miss. Zayn, like many others, still needs time to develop as a wrestler, and truthfully, winning the NXT title right now is pointless.

Neville needs to grow with the title. Zayn can develop without it and eventually take the title as soon as Sept. 11's NXT Takeover. He can wait; we know his battles with Cesaro and Breeze proved his spot for a successful run as a WWE Superstar.

Sami Zayn must not become the NXT champion. Frankly, he doesn’t need the title to become a WWE Superstar. He already is.